Retro Y'all!

Still jumping.  In place, mostly.



Someone should do one of these rap battle style brags about being a junker.  Seriously.

Big sale at the Peddlers Mall today.

Retro Y'all

Been doing a lot of jumping lately, but feel I don't have much to show for it.  Oh well.



At least I'm still getting my clothes on the right way.  Seriously, was that not the stupidest gimmick ever?

Comic shop sale today.

JUMP! JUMP!

Retro Y'all!

This is kind of my truth at this moment.

Retro Y'all!

Believe it or not, I woke up this morning reciting this one as some sort of bizarre Shatneresque spoken word performance.

C'mon!  C'mon! C'mon!

Do.

The Loco.

Motion.

With ME!

Did anyone else ever have to do this in 6th-grade PE?  Like every Friday?  Or at least on the Fridays when there wasn't square dancing? (Seriously.  On all of the above counts.)

I'm off to the first church sale of the season!  Plus a new Peddlers Mall opening!  Plus half off Saturday at Goodwill! Plus 75% off at a thrift I don't normally go to! 

There WILL be a Mazda shot tomorrow!

All together now:

Jump Up!

Jump.

Back!

Now.

I think.

YOU.

Have got.

THE KNACK!

Retro Y'all!

Can one get more retro than Andy Griffith?



I think not.

Retro Y'all!

C'mon, Willie!  Get outta here!

It's three in the morning already and Mammaw has to get up in a few hours to get ready for the Beauty Pageant!

She needs her beauty reat!

Scram!

Shoo!

While Mammaw defends her crown, I'll be busy at the Goodwill half-off sale and the 2nd anniversary sale at the vendor mall across the street from the Peddlers Mall.

Retro Y'all!

I've come to believe that Waylon Jennings doesn't quite get the credit he deserves as a songwriter.  For some reason, when people talk about the great country music songwriters, he doesn't seem to get mentioned often.



Fun Fact;  According to Wikipedia, this song was inspired by an article Jennings read about Tina Turner.

Retro Y'all!

Another earworm they play at the Peddlers Mall all the time. If it's gonna be stuck in my head, I'm gonna share that "joy" with you all.  This one is dedicated to the customer who was walking up the aisle singing along at the same time that I was working, also singing along.



This one is a twofer treat as we get back into the Retro Y'all groove.  I had a hard time picking which version of this song to feature, since there are two well known versions of it, both equally popular and both equally retro.  In the end I decided to include them both.

That was Tanya Tucker.  Now here's Helen Reddy.



I have to say that I prefer Tucker's version.  I'm always attracted to good, old-fashioned twangy country, plus I love the harmonies and the gospel choir feel of the ending better.  Although, that odd little dance step Reddy is doing is really cure, in an awkward sort of way.

Fun Facts:

My mother hated this song, for some reason.  She had some kind of Helen Reddy's greatest hits LP and played "I am Woman" over and over (and over) again after she and my father split.  She would always rush to the stereo to stop it before "Delta Dawn" could come on.

According to Wikipedia, this was almost released as single by Bette Midler, until Helen Reddy released it first.

Until I researched the song, I had no idea Helen Reddy was from Australia.

Retro Y'all!

In between getting Tucker down off the drapes and out of my hair (Literally.  He loves my hair and Keith's beard and considers them his personal playgrounds.)  I've been binge-watching old episodes of the E! show Hollywood Mysteries and Scandals, which just goes to show how out of touch I am with modern life.  Everyone else marathons Game of Thrones. I gorge on old entertainment documentaries. I'll never be cool.

 Anyway, there was an ep on Bobby Darin and this got stuck in my head.  Enjoy.



The song has a fascinating history, by the way.  For a bonus treat, click here for the German version by composer Kurt Weill's wife, Lotte Lenye.

Have a safe holiday weekend everyone.  Wear your sunscreen and be careful with the fireworks.

Retro Y'all!

There's really only one way to go this weekend:



After all, it is Wonder Woman Day!  This is, of course, due to the much-anticipated, long-awaited movie release.  It's finally here.

Since it's also junk set out weekend, I won't be going for a few days, but I am looking forward to it.

BONUS:  The episode these credits were lifted from guest-starred Anne Francis!

Retro Y'all!

This one is stuck in my head a lot these days, because it plays at least once a day in the Peddlers Mall.  I chose this version over the others on YouTube because of the "enthusiastic" hand clappers in the background.  Can you imagine putting "Back Up Hand Clapper" on your resume?  (Although I do have a secret fantasy of shaking a mad tambourine onstage with a happening band for one special performance.  Too bad I have no sense of rhythm.)

By the way, as much as I love Madonna, we'll not ever talk about her cover version.  Talk about something that should have been shot down as soon as it was proposed.  Some songs are sacrosanct classics, you know.

I have memories of being about fourth or fifth grade and getting an LP for Christmas--one of those educational types--that was all original songs for kids about American history.  I can still remember snippets of the songs.  The one about the stock market crash in 1929 had a chanted refrain ("Stocks are going up!  Going up!") that kept building and building until the crash happens.  I cannot for the life of me remember the name of the album or who put it out.  Of course, my copy is long, long gone.

It's one of those things I would love to find one day at a thrift, if only to prove to myself that I am not hallucinating and that the opening song really, inexplicably, was......American Pie!  Surely, I cannot be misremembering something as bizarre at that.  Surely.

The reason this sticks out in my mind is because I remember having to ask my mother what "rye" was the first couple of times I heard it.  I thought that the good old boys were drinking whiskey and eating bread, but since the song said they were "drinking whiskey and rye" I thought they were putting the bread into the whiskey.  YUCK!

I also had to ask what a "levee" was.

I've never been able to turn up anything on the internet about this album.  I just keep running into references to Don McLean, Madonna, or that damn movie.  Anyone who could help me prove that I'm not insane would be much appreciated. I know I'm not making this up in my head.

If you need or would like to read an interpretation of the lyrics, you can start here.  There are several others out there.

Retro Y'all (Black History Month Edition)

I probably should have done this one closer to Valentine's Day, but whatever.

You know those songs that instantly turn you back into a teenager in high school, reliving all the agony and ecstasy that is adolescent romance?  It seems that many of mine were sung by Lionel Richie.

The first one is long, but it's a threefur, plus bonus Soul Train stings.





Yes, I sang along with all three of these.  At the top of my lungs.

Don't even ask if I got weepy.  Hell, I cry at cat food commercials.

Retro Y'all (Black History Month Edition)

This was the Homecoming theme at my high school the year it came out.

Retro Y'all (Black History Month Edition)

Retro Y'all (Black History Month Edition)

All together now:

Sunshine!

Moonlight!

Good Times!

BOOGIE!!!

Retro Y'all!

The same video that miscategorized The Knack as a "one hot wonder" also did the same to Dead or Alive.  (See Retro Y'all from two weeks ago.)

Of course, the supposed one hit is "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)."

But they forgot about something!

Wikipedia reports that, while neither song made it into the Top 10, both songs did have a similar level of US success.  "Spin Me" made it to number 11, while "Brand New Lover" got to 15.  That's certainly worth noting, surely.

Retro Y'all! (Inaugural Edition)

Retro Y'all!

I watched a video the other day that claimed The Knack was a "one hit wonder."  Said one hit is, of course, "My Sharona."  Immediately, I thought, "Wait a minute!"

What about this one?????

According to Wikipedia, "Good Girls Don't" peaked at Number 11 on the US charts.  I know that's lower than "Sharona" which went to number 1, but, still, right outside the Top 10 is nothing to sneeze at.

"One hit wonder," indeed.

Seriously.

PS Someone mixed the song with clips from a vintage dating tips video.  The result is kind of awesome.  (Do be aware that this uses the so-called "dirty" version of the song.)

Retro Y'all!

This one seems like a good one to start the year off right!



Did you get a new calendar this year?

Retro Y'all! (Christmas Eve Edition)

I'm pretty sure that I have used this one in the blog before, but not as Retro Y'all.  It's such a classic that it definitely warrants a re-post, regardless.

It's also a timeless message that's more appropriate this year than ever, especially since we lost David Bowie in 2016.



Wishing you and yours peace and love.

I hope the fat guy coming down your chimney leaves lots of goodies.  I know a couple of crazy kids who are celebrating their anniversary tonight.

Happy holidays from Eddie-torial Comments, me, Keith, and Chiquito!

PS I'm sending everyone a big, virtual hug.  If you lean in waaaaaay close to the monitor or your phone, then you'll feel it.